That Which We Call a Rose - REDUX
by AngelontheGround
Summary: A rewritten/remastered version of That Which We Call a Rose. Ruby and Yang have been living on the streets for 7 months now, just going through the motions, stealing to eat, and in general just barely managing to scrape a life out of the unforgiving city. But when they meet another pair of runaways, and begin to see the shadows behind the romance of street life, everything changes.
1. Chapter 1: A Rose

The arrival of the sun announced a new morning to the city of Vale, bringing with it a light morning shower; it was more a mist than anything, though. Most of the inhabitants of the city would admire the way the light shone and refracted through the tiny droplets, shining like so many gemstones, but-

"DARNIT YANG! YOU TOLD ME IT WOULDN'T RAIN!"

-not Ruby Rose.

A blob of red and black that was propped up under a fire escape wriggled around -looking very much like a landed fish- until a hand finally managed to escape. It yanked the hood of an old, very careworn red hoodie down off of its owner's face, releasing a shock of red-tinged black hair that proofed outwards and fought valiantly to maintain its unruliness until a set of fingers managed to comb it down. A yawn stretched the 16-year-old 's mouth and bright silver eyes were blinked to clear them of the wateriness which inevitably followed. Struggling to her feet, Ruby stretched, reveling in the feeling of her stiff muscles being loosened, her muscles gradually (too gradually) working out of the knots she had earned from hours of sleeping on hard pavement. Her morning routine thus completed, she glanced around; looking for the source of the inordinate amount of water that had landed on her head a scant 10 minutes ago and waking her so rudely.

It wasn't a long search.

On the first landing of the fire escape, sheltered somewhat by the next platform above, there lay a blob very similar to what Ruby had looked like a couple minuted before. However, this blob was coloured differently and was somewhat...lumpier.

Said blob blinked. She had been having quite a nice dream, that is, until her alarm clock had started berating her about the weather…wait… hang on a second...

Ruby, meanwhile, had given up on yelling. Well, not quite given up. She supplemented her yelling by just picking up random objects found on the ground: a rock and some cans, among other bits and pieces, and heaving them at the yellow/black blob on the fire escape. Who, unfortunately, happened to be her sister.

Yang for her part, was completely innocent. The rainwater had simply pooled on a stair of the fire escape and overflowed onto the unfortunate Ruby.

Several bickers and swapped insults later, they both stood in the mouth of the alleyway they had stayed the night in. Hands stuffed deep into the pocket of her threadbare, wartorn pullover hoodie, Ruby stared out into the street; entranced, as always, by the sights and sound of the city waking up.

Windows slid open and cars chugged to life in the frosty autumn air, storefronts rattled back their metal cages and everyone suddenly had somewhere to go, something to do, someone to meet. Leaves rustled underfoot, stragglers from the park down the street as people bustled along. Vale was a newer city, and there were places to go and a hurry to get there, things to do, money to spend and people to spend it on, things to see even within the bounds of the city of Vale.

As she always did before starting a new day, she flicked her hair back over her shoulder and trailed her fingers down the scar that curved over the left side of her neck and under the back of her shirt, raising goosebumps and reminders of one important fact that never seemed to stick in her head: This city, while beautiful and full of wonders, is also a dark and dangerous place.

* * *

Ruby and Yang strolled down a side street in Vale, hoods up and faces down, pretending to study a map even though they knew exactly where they were heading. Their destination was a certain modest-sized, unassuming mall a bit outside the center of the town. There were many others closer and larger than this one, but this one had notably lax security: one old, fat security guard who was usually asleep.

The sisters weren't particularly fond of stealing, but ever since they had escaped they had had to eat somehow. So, the two made a living by (among other things) boosting small electronics from stores and selling them to someone who took them apart to sell the technology inside. Sometimes though, they kept one for Ruby to tinker with. Not only a talented artist, which got her in trouble sometimes as she lived on the streets with just her sister and had relatively easy access to spray paint; she was also quite the technological genius. Her fingers were always moving, fidgeting, more often than not with some stray wires and batteries she had found discarded alongside the street.

As they reached the entrance to the mall, the automatic sliding doors whirring open, Yang took her sister by the shoulder to explain what they were doing. AGAIN. After doing this for close to half a year now, Ruby was considerably irritated at her sister's overprotective urges, which struck at times like this. Ruby shrugged her sister's hand off with a sigh, pretending she didn't notice the pained look that came over her face as her arm drooped back to her side.

"Yang, I know what we're doing! Let's just get it done."

That out of the way, the sisters waltzed into the store, observing everything without being too obvious about it, their heads directed one way, their eyes facing another. They took stock of the waist-high display cases, the tired-looking clerk behind the counter who kept glancing at his watch, and the two other customers in the store: another pair of girls standing in a back corner around a laptop, talking. They struck Ruby as an odd pair, a mismatch, even: one in all black and the other in snow white, even up to her hair.

The one thing they had in common, though, was that they were both absolutely stunning. Especially the one in white... That colour of hair couldn't be natural, could it? Quite distracted, Ruby shook her head to clear it and mentally prepared herself for the first job of the day as Yang, the distraction, placed herself conveniently in the shopkeep's line of sight.

She wandered through the store, seemingly browsing, but in reality was tucking small bits of tech in her conveniently baggy sleeves, her deft fingers gliding over sleek aluminum, palming Palm Pilots and snagging mp3 players. An eon had come and gone before she reached what would be the last mark of the day.

Her heart in her throat, she gripped the sides of the smartphone, careful not to smudge the screen with fingerprints as she worked the tiny blade she had concealed in a pocket in her sleeve between the phone and the charger alarm. She eased the two separate, sweat beading along her brow as she struggled to maintain just enough contact as to keep the circuit complete and prevent the alarm from tripping as she returned her knife and slid out a bundle of wires she had whipped up with the spoils of their last run. She nudged one wire into the tiny slit she had made in the cable and froze as a droplet of sweat slipped from her nose, landing over the wire and fizzing, sparking, arcs of tiny purple plasma flaring for a split second before the cable shorted as she waited for the cacophony.

It felt like forever in coming.

It was, technically, since it never came.

A shuddering sight of relief escaping her, Ruby continued, slotting the other wire into the cut and tangling it with the copper filaments inside. Wiping her forehead with a sleeve, She delved back in, now working on the phone. The device she had attached basically created a spy-movie like loop in the alarm system, the chip in the device mimicking that of the phone and telling the alarm system that the phone was still attached. A pair of locksmith-standard torsion wrenches slipped into the docking system of the phone worked the interior pins of the charger lock off, and the phone was free.

Ruby slipped the phone up her sleeve and flicked and sauntered toward the front counter, trying to be as nonchalant as possible, considering she was still shaking with the tension. She flicked her sister on the shoulder, her signal to stop chatting up the clerk, which she did, even though his eyes remained glued to her... assets.

Ruby made a noise of disgust at his unveiled leer leveled at her sister and slipped her hand into Yang's, feigning a beaten-puppy look at both Yang and the shopkeep.

"C'mon, sis, you know we can't afford this stuff! Why d'you drag me into these places all the time if we can't ever use them?"

A sigh and a sad smile at the red-hooded girl and a hand made rough by years of working on its owner's bike came down to ruffle her hair.

"Maybe one day, Rubes. Wh'knows, ya' might get int' MIT 'r somethin' with your genius engineering skills!"

Even though they were lying through their teeth, faking a scene to avoid suspicion, silver eyes panned upwards to meet lilac, tears welling in them, threatening to spill over at the slightest touch.

"D-d'you really think so?"

"I really do. Yer' gonna make mom so proud."

And that was it. Ruby's face crumpled, first into a smile then into agony as the heavens seemed to split, great heaving, wracking sobs tearing at her throat. It was still too soon. Much, much too soon. Yang crouched down next to her, smoothing her hair and wiping the tears from her eyes and planting a kiss to her forehead, as loving and gentle as possible. Gradually, gradually, the sobs faded to sniffles, the tears to reddened eyes and tracks down Ruby's cheeks as the keep looked on, as awkward as it is physically possible for a man to look.

Finally, with a smile and a wave to the shopkeep, Ruby still brushing tears out of her eyes, they started out the door. Ruby glanced back over her shoulder, sniffling, to see if anyone in the store was showing any sign of suspicion... and met the most stunning pair of ice-blue eyes she had ever seen. Her silver eyes flashed wide as the electric blue ones narrowed, looking straight into her, into her mind, into her very being. In that moment, she forgot everything. Where she was, what she was doing there...and the 300 lien smartphone up her sleeve.

As Ruby let her arms drop to her sides, mesmerized by those eyes, the sleeves of her hoodie loosened around her arms and allowed the sleek phone (among other things) to drop to the floor with a distinct clatter that only a phone like that could make.

The clerk's eyes, which had just refocused, snapped up at the sound, searching for the cause. When he saw the phone lying just inside the door, his eyes widened, all fantasies forgotten. He rushed out from behind his counter, his mouth forming the customary cry of "Stop! Thief!" but failed to notice a multitude of things.

First, the fact that he was a middle-aged, slightly portly man (I mean, his name tag said "Port." You can't get much older than that.) that was trying to outrun a pair of fit teenagers. Second, and probably more important, the slender, black-clad leg that appeared in front of his ankles. Before he could get his words out of his mouth, said leg hooked itself around him and tugged slightly, sending him sprawling. The sound of him hitting the floor was quite spectacular.

The owner of the foot, meanwhile, already had their companion by the wrist and had a DustBook laptop cradled under the other arm, waltzing towards the entrance like they were on the catwalk. And boy, did Yang notice them now. As the duo passed Ruby and Yang in the doorway, the black-clad person paused only to toss an amber-eyed wink at Yang, hand her the phone, and whisper "I'd run."

So they did.

 **A/N: Lmao so a massive shoutout to anyone who can spot the literary reference in there... Many will enter, few will win! Leave a review if you think you've spotted it. So, thanks for reading this beginning (revised) chapter of this AU I'm starting! Chapters are coming out a week early on AO3, so go check them out too! Also, Yang has a southern accent 'cause I can. As always, PLEASE review, let me know what you liked, didn't like, want to fling into the sun, anything. Anyway, here's a sneak peek at the next chapter!**

 _She had finally betrayed herself, let herself fall to the ground and slow to a stop. For all this time since she had run away, she hadn't stopped moving. If she kept moving, the sadness couldn't keep up, the shadows would remain just tricks of the light and her fears would stay imaginary._

 _But all lights grow dark eventually._


	2. Chapter 2: What's In A Name?

Ruby ducked and wove, twisting and turning between shoppers as she sprinted away from the store, cutting through the crowd, trying to get to the main doors. She had always been fast, much to the exasperation of her older sister, but ever since they had run away Ruby had done nothing but get faster.

She was coming up to a jam-packed escalator, and the whispers and mentions of a shoplifter were swirling behind her like a swarm of angry bees, closing, threatening to surround her. No other option came to her mind as her hand gripped the slick metal railing, eyeing the drop to the next floor below. The whispers were getting closer, and she'd always wanted to do this anyways, so she jumped.

Her hand pivoted on the rail as her legs rolled over it, one following the other as her other hand grabbed one of the uprights, sliding down until both of her hands closed around the lower railing.

Her wrists were already aching with the tension as she cast around, searching for something else to hold on to, as her fingers were slipping and people were turning, staring, shouting at the red-clad teen dangling from the ceiling. She let go with one hand and grabbed for the support beam that ran along the floor (or ceiling?), a metal I-beam with perfect handholds, but just out of her reach.

A snap decision firing her synapses, she flipped so her hands were on the uprights again and rotated, slowly, slowly, eliciting gasps from the gathering crowd as she let go, her feet hooked around the lower rail. She wormed back and forth, her fingers grazing the edges of the beam and bringing noises of dismay from the people below at each near miss.

Glancing down, she spotted the lone security guard forcing his way through the crowd, shoving people aside to point at her.

"Thief! Get her down!"

Ruby's eyes widened as people on the escalators reached for her, trying to grab an ankle, a wrist, anything. Panicked, she made a last-ditch effort to get over to the beam, letting go of the bar, her stomach falling to her shoes as her fingers touched the surface of the beam, scrabbled…and held.

Her confidence returning some, she swung hand-over-hand along the beam, the crowd following her as she flung herself from beam to beam, making for a support pole right near the doors that should could slide down and make a break for it. She had just committed to a jump, in midair, her hands outstretched for the next beam, when…

"Hey! What are you doing?!"

Ruby's head snapped around to find the source of the voice, but as her head turned her torso turned with it, and her hand slipped. She her heart lurched as a feeling of vertigo shot through her, her momentum carrying her forward. There was only thing sparking across her neurons, spiraling through through her mind.

She fell.

She never fell. Not for as long as she could remember.

She had finally betrayed herself, let herself fall to the ground and slow to a stop. For all this time since she had run away, she hadn't stopped moving. If she kept moving, the sadness couldn't keep up, the shadows would remain just tricks of the light and her fears would stay imaginary.

Her grey eyes closed, a weight settling on her eyelids, the weight of the knowledge that no matter how fast, how far she ran, the darkness would always catch up.

The knowledge that her past would never stay buried.

Her head made contact with the unforgiving metal with a sickening crunch, and she landed on the cold pavement with hardly a sound.

A touch on her shoulder made her force open her eyes, and the last thing she saw before she passed out was a pair of concerned eyes.

 _Huh_. She blinked. _Blue_.

* * *

Yang didn't run. She walked with a purpose, radiating such a forceful persona that everyone knew to get out of her way and stay there. She was pissed, that much was clear. Ruby had run off AGAIN. And now Yang was lost, unable to remember the meeting place they had set up that morning.

She remembered with no small amount of exasperation the beautiful motorcycle, named Bumblebee, that she had left behind when she ran away. As much as she had longed to bring her baby with her, she left it because it was rather...distinctive. A black and yellow Kawasaki Ninja with a large black flaming heart emblem emblazoned in the side, they would've been found out immediately.

Lost in her thoughts, Yang's feet led themselves absently through the streets, over bumps and cracks in the sidewalk. Making turns at random, she found herself walking down Beacon Avenue, one of the busier streets in Vale.

Absent-mindedly weaving through the crush of people, all with their own places to go, albeit far too slowly, something made its way into the back of her mind, worming into her consciousness, telling her that she was hearing shouting. Snapping herself out of he reverie, she moved towards the source of the commotion, nudging people aside, more often than not receiving dirty looks from those in her way.

As she neared the cause of the panic, the crowed around her slowed and stopped entirely. Elbowing her way through the tide, Yang finally reached the edge where a small, circular clearing had opened around the ruckus. She was about to push into the circle, but her feet hit an obstruction. Lying at her feet was an unconscious man, who appeared to be in his forties, sprawled across the pavement.

Crouching next to him was the person in black from the store. Now that Yang could get a better look at them, they was wearing a black zip-up hoodie with a white t-shirt barely visible under the zip and a pair of black skinny jeans (not that Yang minded). What surprised the blonde, though, was the dangerous-looking knife they held in their left hand, the non-pointy end facing out. Glancing back down at the man at her feet, she could make out a rectangular mark on his temple, already bruising. Yang nodded, impressed.

The person didn't even shift, their thumb rolling back the man's eyelid and examining his pupil. Apparently liking what they saw, they turned.

As if noticing the crowd around her for the first time, the raven-haired person straightened up and spun the knife in their hand before tucking it point-first up their sleeve. Glancing around at the crowd, they gestured to the man on the ground.

"Severe concussion, probably. He touched me."

They said it without much emotion, and that stabbed at Yang's heart. The thought that someone not very different in age than her little sister, the one remnant of her family that she had left, had that happen to them so often that it elicited such a neutral response from them tore at the very fibres of her big-sister being. The dark-haired person gave her a nod and and spun on their heel, walking away, hair streaming out behind them.

On an impulse, Yang followed. Not getting too close, she followed them through the streets, up and down twisting alleys and through the mess left by the rain, noticing that they were getting closer to the place where she and Ruby had spent the night. It was close enough to the business sector of the city that it wasn't too dangerous, but it still had an abundance of back alleys to sleep in.

After some time, the black-haired person called back, without so much as breaking stride or even throwing a glance Yang's way.

"Why are you following me?"

Yang shrugged. "'M lost. 'M s'pposed to meet my little sister somewhere after we got split up in that crowd, but I forgot where. Followin' you seemed 's good a shot as any."

"Your sister?"

"Yeah. Ruby. Speakin' of which, where's that girl you were with? Y'know , the one in white?"

Still walking, they shook their head. "We were separated too. However, _I_ remember our meeting place."

Yang shook her head in exasperation. "Thanks for the help there, by the way. I thought we were screwed f'sure."

"It's not a big deal. I've been in that situation a couple times, and I would've appreciated a little help like that, so I thought I'd lend a hand." They shrugged. "Why were you stealing that much, anyway? I saw the little red one...Ruby, was it? I saw her pocketing all the tech she could get her hands on."

Yang glanced down, embarrassed. "Well...we've gotta eat somehow, yeah?"

The other person stopped suddenly that Yang nearly walked into her. They turned to face Yang, and their strikingly amber eyes -which had been so hard when Yang saw them standing over that man- softened, then hardened again, distrust clouding their gaze.

"Even so, that much stuff would be much, much more than a meal would be worth. That would be more along the lines of a week's worth." Confused, they shook their head. "And even that's beside the point, don't your parents feed you? Why would you need money for food?"

Yang shrugged, not used to talking to others about this, and all the emotional inflection left her voice, the normally bubbly, enthused blonde turned empty shell. "Well, me 'n Rubes don't have parents anymore. Died about 8 months ago. They were out walking, and some jackass hit 'em with his car. 'Parently, he w' so drunk he didn't even notice it. We stayed with a family friend for a couple weeks, until we heard them talkin' with child services workers about splitting me 'n my sis' up in foster care 'r adoption 'r somethin'. So we decided t' run away before they could do that t'us. We hafta feed ourselves now. We only have each other."

Yang's head lowered and she studied the sidewalk, convinced that she had turned her new friend away. Who would want to be friends with a street kid, anyway? Then she felt a touch on her shoulder. Yang looked up, her lilac eyes meeting catlike amber full of sympathy.

"We...only have each other too."

Yang blinked. "Huh?"

"Yeah. My parents died as well. Long ago, though."

Yang looked down again. Who wants to be friends with a street kid, indeed. Maybe, just maybe…

This might work.

"Well…mebbe ya' don't hafta be alone anymore." She looked back up, her usual confidence returning in a big way as she returned the touch to the shoulder, her hand closing around warm skin and bone, the doubt warring in her mind not showing anything on her face. "You and your friend c'n come with us! You c'n be part of our family!" She stuck out a hand. "I'm Yang! Nice ta' meetcha!"

The dark-haired person couldn't help but crack a smile at the blonde's natural exuberance, and clasped her hand. "Blake."

Yang grinned, looking over her new friend. "Blake? S'a cool name! Oh, and d'you have a pronoun preference, before we wrap this up?"

Blake couldn't help but be taken aback at the blonde's thoughtfulness. No one had ever bothered asking before, they had just assumed.

"W-well, yeah, actually. I'm genderfluid, so could you use they and them for now? I'll keep you posted."

"'Course! My pleasure!"

Yang grinned as the two of them turned and kept walking, her thoughts on her new friend.

 _Her- THEIR smile is the only thing prettier than those eyes..._

* * *

 **A/N: there it is...Again, thanks so much for your support! And if you have any questions or suggestions or just wanna say hi, feel free to PM me. _(I'm definitely not just wanting to talk to people cause I spend all my free time writing I don't know what you're talking about...)_**

 ** _-Ai_**

 ** _Ooh P.S. here's a sneeeeeaky peek at the next chapter!_**

 _"You think that I would be shoplifting for fun? You think that I would do that? You think I don't_ know _what stealing does to a business?_

 _Of course I do. I don't steal-" she spat the word like it was venomous, "-because I want to. I do it because it is a necessity. I do it to survive."_

 _"And it's heiress, actually."_


End file.
